Waubonsie Valley goes to the air to beat Neuqua Valley
Where has the forward pass been for Waubonsie Valley? In coach Paul Murphy's hip pocket.
Warriors quarterback Zack Bennema entered Friday's Indian Prairie Classic football game against Neuqua Valley having thrown for 311 yards in seven games.
At North Central College's crowded Benedetti-Wehrli Stadium in Naperville, the 6-foot-4 senior completed 14 of 21 passes for 262 yards and 3 touchdowns. Bennema threw for the game-winner with 1:18 left to play, receiver Keaton Casey shaking his defender on a hitch-and-go pattern for a 32-yard touchdown that gave Waubonsie Valley a 35-28 victory.
"It was a great, great play," said Bennema, who also ran for 76 yards with 34- and 5-yard touchdown runs. "Probably the best play of my career."
Beating Neuqua Valley for the first time since 2011, Waubonsie (7-1, 5-1) also gained the Upstate Eight Conference's Valley Division tiebreaker over two-time defending champ Neuqua (5-3, 5-1).
"The key was, not letting them outscore you," Murphy said. "We kept ahead on the scoreboard until they tied it (21-21 in the third quarter), which gave us the upper hand. So as long as we could dictate what we wanted to do, I've been sandbagging all year with the passing game."
Waubonsie Valley ran for 241 yards, led by Tony Durns with 105, but in addition to unleashing the pass against Neuqua's 3-5 defense most of that yardage went between Warriors tackles Brandon Petersen and Quinton Zielke, very few on triple-option pitches to Durns.
"We just needed to change it up, it's our rival," said Casey, who caught 8 passes for 138 yards and 2 touchdowns. "We can't come out with the same stuff. We changed it up and it worked. It's great looking forward because we just added another part of the game that's going to take us far."
Waubonsie scored first and led 21-7 on Bennema's 12-yard slant to Casey at 5:05 of the second quarter.
Neuqua pulled within 21-14 at halftime on Broc Rutter's 29-yard touchdown pass to Owen Piche, then led 28-21 late in the third quarter on a pair of Evan Moore touchdown grabs. Moore's first score was set up by a 79-yard bomb to Isaiah Robertson on third-and-22. Robertson finished with 158 yards receiving, Rutter with 244 yards passing.
"That was a big momentum-changer," Rutter said of the long completion. "It's a game of momentum. They had the momentum at the end of the game. We had the momentum in the third quarter, obviously, and that's about it."
Bennema immediately recaptured momentum with a 47-yard pass to Casey. Four plays later he followed fullback Ryan Berg between linemen Bailey Burns and Zielke to make it 28-28 with 10:20 remaining.
"They made some big plays in some crucial times," said Neuqua coach Bill Ellinghaus. "I tip my hat to them and I wish them luck. We've got to regroup and our kids will because our kids are fighters, and I'm confident in that."